Glossary
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En
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THX Ultra2
Before any home theatre component can be THX Ultra2 certified, it
must incorporate all the features above and also pass a rigorous
series of quality and performance tests. Only then can a product
feature the THX Ultra logo, which is your guarantee that the Home
Theatre products you purchase will give you superb performance
for many years to come. THX Ultra2 requirements cover every
aspect of the product including pre-amplifier performance and
operation, and hundreds of other parameters in both the digital and
analog domain.
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THX Cinema processing
THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established
by the world-renowned film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd.
THX grew from George Lucas’ personal desire to make your
experience of the film soundtrack, in both movie theatres and in
your home theatre, as faithful as possible to what the director
intended. Movie soundtracks are mixed in special movie theatres
called dubbing stages and are designed to be played back in movie
theatres with similar equipment and conditions. This same
soundtrack is then transferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape,
DVD, etc., and is not changed for playback in a small home theatre
environment. THX engineers developed patented technologies to
accurately translate the sound from the movie theatre environment
into the home, correcting the tonal and spatial errors that occur. On
this product, when “THX” appears in the front panel display, THX
features are automatically added in Cinema modes (e.g. THX
Cinema, THX Surround EX).
THX Cinema mode
In this mode, THX Loudness Plus is designed around the industry-
standard reference mixing level as well as adding other proprietary
THX technologies such as Adaptive Decorrelation, Re-EQ, and
Timbre Matching to recreate the theatrical experience at home.
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THX Music mode
THX Music modes provide the appropriate THX processing to
enhance music listening. THX Music applies a dedicated music
profile of THX Loudness Plus, designed around the varying mix
levels in music sources which are often very different than film or
television sources. Additionally, THX Music applies Timbre
Matching to the surround speaker channels.
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THX Games mode
THX Games mode gives the benefit of THX Loudness Plus, as well
as other THX proprietary features which provide the gamer with a
more accurate listening experience at lower levels, while
maintaining all of the directional cues critical to gameplay.
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THX Surround EX
Dolby Digital Surround EX is a joint development of Dolby
Laboratories and the THX Ltd.
In a movie theater, film soundtracks that have been encoded with
Dolby Digital Surround EX technology are able to reproduce an
extra channel which has been added during the mixing of the
program. This channel, called Surround Back, places sounds behind
the listener in addition to the currently available front left, front
center, front right, surround right, surround left and subwoofer
channels. This additional channel provides the opportunity for more
detailed imaging behind the listener and brings more depth,
spacious ambience and sound localization than ever before.
Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital Surround EX
technology, when released into the home consumer market may
exhibit wording to that effect on the packaging. A list of movies
created using this technology can be found on the Dolby web site at
www.dolby.com.
Only receiver and controller products bearing the THX Surround
EX logo, when in the THX Surround EX mode, faithfully reproduce
this new technology in the home.
This product may also engage the “THX Surround EX” mode
during the playback of 5.1 channel material that is not Dolby Digital
Surround EX encoded. In such case the information delivered to the
Surround Back channel will be program dependent and may or may
not be very pleasing depending on the particular soundtrack and the
tastes of the individual listener.
THX information
